Notifications based on device presence

ABSTRACT

An architecture is provided that can facilitate and/or transmit notifications based upon device presence techniques in connection with a wireless communications network. For example, when certain mobile devices register with a particular network entity (e.g., a femtocell) that services a particular target location (e.g., place of residence), then such registration can be leveraged to indicate presence at the target location. Accordingly, notifications can be delivered to custodian devices that indicate the presence information if certain predetermined conditions or criteria are satisfied.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to each of,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/867,823, filed on Apr. 22, 2013,entitled “NOTIFICATIONS BASED ON DEVICE PRESENCE,” which is acontinuation of U.S. Pat. No. 8,428,616, filed on Sep. 29, 2010,entitled “NOTIFICATIONS BASED ON DEVICE PRESENCE.” The entireties ofthese applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates generally to wireless communicationsnetworks, and more specifically to utilizing device registration with anetwork entity such as a femtocell as an indication of presence.

BACKGROUND

Today, millions of children world-wide are described as “latchkey” kids,a term deriving from the observation that when these children arrive athome, either from school or other endeavors, they will often do so to anempty house, and therefore, must carry a latchkey with them. In mostcases, parents of these children will be interested and relieved to knowtheir children arrived home safely. Unfortunately, due to otherobligations, such as work, those parents who cannot be at home to greettheir children also often are not even able to learn when their childrendo arrive home, which can lead to a great deal of anxiety.

As a result, parents and other caregivers are turning to advancingtechnologies to alleviate this dilemma. For example, global positioningsatellite (GPS) employs an array of satellites and other space-basedcomponents for navigation and other location-based services relying uponconcepts of trilateration to determine location. Accordingly, variousservices are currently available to track the location of suitabledevices (and, by proxy, the associated user) at a particular time orover time, which parents, caregivers, or other interested parties canemploy to, e.g., be apprised of the whereabouts of children.

Unfortunately, GPS-based systems also introduce a variety of undesirableissues. First, special-purpose equipment must be employed, which incursan added expense, both due to the equipment itself and the (oftenrecurring) GPS service charges, which can be quite substantial overtime. Second, children or other suitable parties must be encouraged toneither forget nor refuse to carry the GPS-based tracking device. Byintegrating GPS equipment into cell phones or other wireless devicesthat children are often quite willing to keep with them at all times,the second issue can be largely mitigated, yet the first one remains:added expense. Moreover, this issue is often greater than need be, aschildren or other parties who require suitable types of care, tend to bemore likely to lose, damage, or have stolen their mobile devices.

In addition, there are some market participants who believe GPS-basedtracking is far too invasive and contrary to many legitimate privacyconcerns of the parents, since such data can be potentially utilized inways not authorized by the parents and in a manner that can bepredictably damaging to both parents and children alike. Accordingly,what is needed is a way to give parents or other authorized partiespeace of mind, without relying upon GPS-based systems that can beprohibitively expensive and/or undesirable in terms of privacy concerns.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system that can facilitate notificationsbased upon device presence techniques in connection with a wirelesscommunications network.

FIG. 2 provides a block diagram of a system illustrating additionalfeatures or aspects of notifications based upon device presence.

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphic depiction of an interface for input and/orconfiguration of the set of predetermined conditions or other relatedparameters.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system that can perform or aid withvarious determinations or inferences.

FIG. 5A illustrates a block diagram of a system in which all or aportion of the components described herein can be included in a corenetwork of the wireless communications network.

FIG. 5B depicts a block diagram of a system is configured such that allor a portion of the components described herein can be included in afemtocell or other network entity associated with the target location.

FIG. 5C illustrates a block diagram of a system in which all or aportion of the components described herein can be included in thesubservient mobile device.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary flow chart of procedures defining a methodfor creating notifications in a wireless communications network basedupon device presence information.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary flow chart of procedures that define a method forproviding additional features or aspects in connection with creatingnotifications in a wireless communications network based upon devicepresence information.

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary flow chart of procedures defining a methodfor providing additional features or aspects in connection configuringthe set of predetermined criteria.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example wireless communication environment withassociated components that can enable operation of an enterprise networkin accordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic deployment of a macro cell for wirelesscoverage in accordance with aspects of the subject specification.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example embodiment of afemtocell access point.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a computer operable to execute aportion of the disclosed architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter disclosed herein, in one aspect thereof, comprises awireless communications network architecture that can construct and/orfacilitate transmission of notifications based upon device presencetechniques. In accordance therewith and to other related ends, thearchitecture can include a presence component that can be configured toreceive and store presence information characterized by networkregistration of a subservient mobile device to a network entity (e.g., afemtocell) that services a target location such as a home.

Moreover, the architecture can also receive and log presence informationrelating to a lack of presence (e.g., absence) either throughregistration to a disparate network entity (e.g., network entity otherthan the femtocell at home) or in some cases de-registration from thenetwork entity.

Regardless, of the type of presence information in question, thearchitecture can also include a notification component that canfacilitate transmission, either directly or via a disparate entity suchas a short message service (SMS) server of a notification relating tothe presence information. Further, the notification component can beconfigured to facilitate transmission of the notification to at leastone custodian device if the presence information satisfies a set ofpredetermined conditions, such as, for example, send the notificationonce the presence of a particular device is detected at home or if thatdevice leaves home before a certain time and so forth.

The disclosed subject matter is now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the disclosed subject matter. It may beevident, however, that the disclosed subject matter may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-knownstructures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order tofacilitate describing the disclosed subject matter.

As used in this application, the terms “system,” “component,”“interface,” and the like are generally intended to refer to acomputer-related entity or an entity related to an operational machinewith one or more specific functionalities. The entities disclosed hereincan be either hardware, a combination of hardware and software,software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, butis not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor,an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or acomputer. By way of illustration, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components mayreside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component maybe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. These components also can execute from various computerreadable storage media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry that is operated bysoftware or firmware application(s) executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can include a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that confers at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. An interface can include input/output (I/O)components as well as associated processor, application, and/or APIcomponents.

Furthermore, the disclosed subject matter may be implemented as amethod, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programmingand/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware,or any combination thereof to control a computer to implement thedisclosed subject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as usedherein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from by acomputing device.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media and/or communications media,which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structureddata, or unstructured data. Computer-readable storage media can include,but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical diskstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or other tangible and/or non-transitorymedia which can be used to store desired information. Computer-readablestorage media can be accessed by one or more local or remote computingdevices, e.g., via access requests, queries or other data retrievalprotocols, for a variety of operations with respect to the informationstored by the medium.

On the other hand, communications media typically embodycomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother structured or unstructured data in a data signal such as amodulated data signal, e.g., a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and includes any information delivery or transport media. Theterm “modulated data signal” or signals refers to a signal that has oneor more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as toencode information in one or more signals. By way of example, and notlimitation, communication media include wired media, such as a wirednetwork or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic,RF, infrared and other wireless media

As used herein, the terms “infer” or “inference” generally refer to theprocess of reasoning about or inferring states of the system,environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured viaevents and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of newevents or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

Further, terms like “user equipment,” “mobile device,” “mobile,”“subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,” andsimilar terminology, generally refer to a wireless device utilized by asubscriber or user of a wireless communication service to receive orconvey data, control, voice, video, sound, gaming, or substantially anydata-stream or signaling-stream. The foregoing terms are utilizedinterchangeably in the subject specification and related drawings.Likewise, the terms “access point,” “base station,” “cell site,” “NodeB,” “evolved Node B” and other outdoor environment devices, can beutilized interchangeably in the subject application. Similarly, termssuch as “femtocell”, “femto,” “home Node B”, “micro cell” and otherindoor environment devices can be used interchangeably as well. Ineither outdoor or indoor cases, such devices can refer to a wirelessnetwork component or appliance that serves and receives data, control,voice, video, sound, gaming, or substantially any data-stream orsignaling-stream from a set of subscriber mobile devices. Data andsignaling streams can be packetized or frame-based flows. It is notedthat in the subject specification and drawings, context or explicitdistinction provides differentiation with respect to access points orbase stations that serve and receive data from a mobile device in anoutdoor environment, and access points or base stations that operate ina confined, primarily indoor environment overlaid in an outdoor coveragearea.

Furthermore, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer,” andthe like are employed interchangeably throughout the subjectspecification, unless context warrants particular distinction(s) amongthe terms. It should be appreciated that such terms can refer to humanentities, associated devices, or automated components supported throughartificial intelligence (e.g., a capacity to make inference based oncomplex mathematical formalisms) which can provide simulated vision,sound recognition and so forth. In addition, the terms “wirelessnetwork,” “communications network,” “network” and the like are usedinterchangeable in the subject application, when context for any ofthese term utilized warrants distinction for clarity purposes suchdistinction is made explicit.

Moreover, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the wordexemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As usedin this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or”rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, orclear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of thenatural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; orX employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under anyof the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” asused in this application and the appended claims should generally beconstrued to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear fromcontext to be directed to a singular form.

Referring now to the drawing, with reference initially to FIG. 1, system100 that can facilitate notifications based upon device presencetechniques in connection with a wireless communications network isdepicted. For example, by relying upon device presence techniques ratherthan trilateration techniques as is employed with global positioningsatellite (GPS) and many other location-based services, little or nospecial purpose equipment or computation need be necessary. Hence, thesubject matter disclosed herein can be at once less expensive forend-users and less invasive in terms of certain privacy concerns.

Generally, system 100 can include presence component 102 that can beconfigured to receive and store presence information 104. Presenceinformation 104 can be characterized by network registration ofsubservient mobile device 106 to network entity 108 that services targetlocation 110. Put another way, when subservient mobile device 106 enters(or leaves) an area of service (e.g., target location 110) covered bynetwork entity 108, then network entity 108 can “sense” such and provideappropriate information (e.g., presence information 104) to presencecomponent 102 as a result. In this case, “sensing” the presence ofsubservient mobile device 106 can be established when subservient mobiledevice 106 registers with network entity 108 in order to utilize networkentity 108 as a communications portal to a core network of the wirelesscommunications network. As a result, in one or more aspect, presenceinformation 104 does not include GPS data, but rather relies on devicepresence data.

Thus, network entity 108 is intended to be a suitable wirelesscommunications network component, typically a terrestrial-basedcomponent, that can provide wireless communications network services ina substantially fixed geographic area (e.g., target location 110), andthat allows or requires devices to register in order to utilize theservices provided while in the area of service. Such can be exemplifiedby FIG. 2, which can be now referenced in conjunction with FIG. 1. FIG.2 depicts system 200 illustrating additional features or aspects ofnotifications based upon device presence techniques. For example, in oneor more aspect, network entity 108 can be femtocell 202 sometimesreferred to as a micro cell or home Node B (HNB). Additionally oralternatively, network entity 108 can be wireless fidelity (WI-FI)router 206; or a macro cell or base station 204 included therein. Hence,while it should be understood network entity need not be limited to anyone type of suitable network component, in the reminder of this documentit is generally assumed that network entity 108 is a femtocell unlessspecified otherwise.

In general, femtocells (e.g., femtocell 202) are designed for indoorenvironments such as a home or office. Femtocells utilize a broadbandrouter to carry packet-based voice and/or data to the core network ofthe wireless communications network via a broadband connection to theInternet such as digital subscriber line (DSL) or a cable modem. Thus,femtocells can provide a strong signal and robust services inenvironments that traditionally offer only poor coverage, such as thatcommonly experienced behind the walls of a building. Additional detail,aspects or example embodiments relating to femtocells, network entity108, and/or other components that can be included in the wirelesscommunications network are provided in connection with FIGS. 9-11.Moreover, it should be appreciated that, given femtocells are designedfor in-home coverage, a device typically must be at home in order toregister with a femtocell, and thus employ the services therebyprovided.

As such, the disclosed subject matter can leverage these and otherrelated features to obtain presence information 104, which can in turnbe leveraged to provide valuable notifications relating to presenceinformation 104. For example, when subservient device 106 registers withfemtocell 202 (e.g., network entity 108) servicing the residential home,then it can be presumed the operator of subservient device 106 is athome, hence establishing a degree of presence. As previously noted suchinformation can be received and stored by presence component 102. As oneexample, presence component 102 can store presence information 104 todata store 118. As used herein, data store 118 is intended to be arepository of all or portions of data, data sets, or informationdescribed herein or otherwise suitable for use with the describedsubject matter. Data store 118 can be centralized, either remotely orlocally cached, or distributed, potentially across multiple devicesand/or schemas. Furthermore, data store 118 can be embodied assubstantially any type of memory, including but not limited to volatileor non-volatile, sequential access, structured access, or random access,solid state, and so on. It should be understood that all or portions ofdata store 118 can be included in systems 100, or can reside in part orentirely remotely from systems 100.

In accordance therewith, system 100 can also include notificationcomponent 112 that can be an application included in a computer-readablestorage medium or in execution by a processor. Notification component112 can facilitate transmission of notification 114 to at least onecustodian device 116 ₁-116 _(N), where N can be any substantiallypositive integer, when or if presence information 104 satisfies a set ofpredetermined conditions. It should be understood that the at least onecustodian device 116 ₁-116 _(N) can be referred to herein, eithercollectively or individually as custodian device(s) 116, withappropriate subscripts employed generally only when necessary orconvenient to highlight various distinctions or to better impart thedisclosed concepts.

As one concrete example, consider the case in which both parents (e.g.,“mom” and “dad”) work late into the evening on most days, while theirtwo children (e.g., “Ashley” and “Billy”) typically arrive home (e.g.,target location 110) from school by late afternoon. Further assuming theparents subscribe to femtocell service (or some other suitable service),when either Ashley or Billy arrive home, their individual handsets(e.g., subservient mobile devices 106) will cease their open airinterface to a local Node B/base station (e.g., base station 204) of aparticular macro cell, and instead register with their householdfemtocell 202 (e.g., network entity 108). When such occurs, presenceinformation 104 can be delivered to presence component 102. As a result,notification component 112 can facilitate transmission of notification114 to a device (e.g., custodian device 116) of mom and/or dad. Forinstance, notification 114 can indicate, e.g., “Ashley (or Billy, orboth) arrived home today at 3:51 pm.”

It should be appreciated that since mom and/or dad typically onlyreceive notification 114 in the event that a certain set ofpredetermined conditions or criteria are satisfied, this is a verysimple case. For example, the set of conditions in this case can be,e.g., “send both mom and dad the notification when Ashley and Billyarrive home from school” (e.g., notification 114 upon first arrival athome any time after 3:30 pm, the normal time in which school lets out,during weekdays). Additional detail in connection with the set ofpredetermined conditions and/or configuration thereof is provided withreference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

While still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it should be understood thatnotification 114 can be delivered to custodian device 116 in a varietyof ways. As one example, notification 114 can be formatted and deliveredaccording to short message service (SMS) 208. As another example,notification can be delivered according to an email protocol, e.g., byway of email service 210. Of course, other methods of deliveringnotification 114 to custodian device 116 can exist, which can beprovided either directly via notification component 112 (e.g., FIG. 1)or via another message service or device 212 (e.g., FIG. 2) uponreceiving suitable instructions from notification component 112.

Thus, it should be readily apparent that while custodian device 116 (andsubservient device 106) can be a mobile device such as a cellular phone,smart phone, personal digital assistant, laptop, netbook, or the like,custodian device 116 need not be a mobile device, but rather can also bean ordinary desktop computer, or substantially any device that canaccess a particular messaging service and/or email account.

It should be further appreciated that there need not be any physicaldistinction between subservient mobile device 106 and any suitableconventional mobile device or that of mobile devices that act ascustodian devices 116. Rather, subservient mobile devices 106 can besubstantially identical in terms of hardware etc. (and need not, butcan, utilize GPS components, yet any such use would not be necessary toalert custodian device 116 of presence information 104). Thus, the term“subservient” does not necessarily reflect any lesser state ofsubservient device 106, but is employed as an identifier indicatingdevices whose presence are intended to monitored. For instance,femtocell service subscribers typically must set up a list of authorizedusers (e.g., the devices that are authorized to employ the wirelesscommunications network via femtocell 202). In the process of creatingthe list of authorized users, the femtocell service subscriber canchoose which phones are to be “subservient” (e.g., subject to presenceinfo collection such as Ashley and Billy) and, optionally, which are tobe “custodian” (e.g., likely to be recipients of various notifications114 relating to presence of subservient devices 106). Appreciably,custodian devices 116 need not necessarily be on the authorized userlist, but subservient mobile devices 106 typically will in order toallow for registration with femtocell 202 as subservient mobile devices106 arrive at target location 110 (e.g., home).

Regardless, notification component 112 can be configured to facilitatetransmission of notification 114 in real time as the set ofpredetermined conditions is determined to be satisfied. In one or moreaspects, notification 114 can be configured to provide an indicationthat a user of subservient mobile device 106 has arrived at targetlocation 110 based upon network registration of subservient mobiledevice 106 to femtocell 202 servicing target location 110. For example,such aspects were detailed supra in connection with the example scenarioin which mom and/or dad are notified upon arrival at home by Ashley orBilly.

However, it should be appreciated that in one or more aspect,notification 114 can also be configured to provide an indication that auser of subservient mobile device 106 has departed from target location110. Such can be accomplished in a variety of ways. For example,notification component 112 can facilitate the associated notification112 based upon network registration of subservient mobile device 106 toa different network entity 108 (e.g., different than femtocell 202 thatwas registered when Ashley arrived home from school, indicating Ashley'spresence is no longer at home and/or not within the coverage area offemtocell 202), such as base station 204, WI-FI router 206, or adisparate femtocell 202 (e.g., a friend's or neighbor's femtocell 202).As a second example, notification component 112 can facilitate theassociated notification 112 based upon network de-registration ofsubservient mobile device 106 from femtocell 202 servicing targetlocation 110.

Typically, in the case of predetermined conditions relating to absenceor lack of presence (e.g., leaving as opposed to arriving at targetlocation 110), registration with a disparate network entity 108 isgenerally preferred over de-registration, since powering downsubservient mobile device 106 can in some cases result in such ade-registration, even though subservient mobile device 106 did notdepart from target location 110, merely from the wireless communicationsnetwork and/or the network entity 108 servicing target location 110. Byway of further illustration, resuming the common scenarios used herein,while mom can still receive notification 114 when Ashley arrives at home(e.g., a first set of predetermined conditions), a second set ofpredetermined conditions can, when satisfied, result in a secondnotification 114 being delivered to mom, such as when Ashley leaves thehouse after getting home from school.

With reference now to FIG. 3, interface 300 for input and/orconfiguration of the set of predetermined conditions is provided. Itshould be appreciated that both interface 300 as well as any particularset of predetermined conditions/criteria 301 discussed herein isintended to be for illustrative purposes, and therefore is notnecessarily intended to be limiting. For example, interface 300 caninclude multiple sub-interfaces, as well as any combination of interfaceobjects such as input boxes, drop-down menus, radio buttons,check-boxes, dialog boxes, menu bars, widgets, confabulators, and soforth. Appreciably, the above can differ based upon differingapplications and/or form factors utilized to provide and/or accessinterface 300.

Typically, access to interface 300 will be limited to authorized membersof a particular service provision, such as a service provision relatingto the wireless communications network, or particularly to a femtocellservice provision thereof. Thus, drawing again from the examplescenarios introduced above, mom or dad (who ostensibly pay for and haveagreed to the associated service contract) can be authorized parties toaccess and/or configure suitable sets of predetermined conditions 301 orother relevant data, whereas Ashley and Billy, will likely not beauthorized to access interface 300 and/or configure various sets ofpredetermined conditions 301. Rather, Ashley and Billy (or moreprecisely associated wireless devices thereof) will likely be set assubservient mobile devices 106, as further detailed infra.

In one or more aspect, some of which have been previously introduced,set of predetermined conditions 301 can relate to at least one ofarrival or absence of subservient mobile device 106 at target location110; arrival or absence of subservient mobile device 106 at the targetlocation 110 (1) by a certain time, (2) within a certain period of time,or (3) in connection with a state of target location 110; departure orlack of departure of subservient mobile device 106 from the targetlocation 110; or departure or lack of departure of subservient mobiledevice 106 from target location 110 (4) by a certain time, (5) within acertain period of time, or (6) in connection with a state of targetlocation 110.

In addition, in one or more aspects, set of predetermined conditions 301can be configurable based upon input from at least one of a user or anauthorized user of the at least one mobile device, a user or anauthorized user of the subservient mobile device, a subscriber tofemtocell service at the target location, or an agent of the wirelesscommunications network.

By way of example, interface 300 can enable an authorized user (e.g.,mom or dad) to select a target device (e.g., subservient mobile device106), as illustrated at reference numeral 302. In this exemplary case,such can be accomplished by way of a drop-down menu. The drop-down menucan be initially populated with all or a portion of the authorized usersof femtocell 202, yet in any event an option can be provided to “adddevice(s)”, wherein suitable identifying information can be input, aswell as an option (not shown) to delete previously saved selections. Anydata entered here (as well as other portions described herein) can bestored for later access or recall and can be employed to automaticallypopulate an authorized user list (e.g., of femtocell 202). Moreover,subservient mobile device 106 can be selected by actual name of thedevice operator (e.g., Ashley, Billy, . . . ), or based upon some otheridentifying criteria depending upon the implementation, such as, e.g., aphone number, reference ID, username or the like. Although not expresslydepicted, similar features can be provided with other portions of theinterface as well.

Furthermore, interface 300 can include a sub-interface or other means(e.g., reference numeral 304) for selecting a location (e.g., targetlocation 110) in which presence data is to be monitored. Here anotherdrop-down menu is illustrated, listing by way of example, “home” (e.g.,femtocell 202 associated with the residence of mom and dad), “auntsally's” (e.g., femtocell 202 associated with the residence of Sally,Ashley and Billy's aunt), the same for a friendly neighbor, babysitter,and dad's office, which also utilizes a femtocell or other suitablenetwork entity 108, and a selection that can be employed to add a newlocation (or delete an existing location). It should be appreciated thatas a general rule, in order to select target locations 110 relating toaunt sally's or the neighbor or babysitter, subservient mobile device106 will need to be on an authorized user list associated with thenetwork entity 108 utilized at that location (e.g., Ashley must beallowed to connect to the network with her device via resident networkequipment, e.g., femtocell 202).

Also depicted are a couple of radio buttons labeled with referencenumeral 306 in which the type of presence information can be selected.For instance, radio buttons 306 can be utilized to select whethernotification 114 should be sent upon arrival at the chosen location 304or departure from the chosen location 304.

Next to be described, at reference numeral 308, interface 300 canprovide for selection of whom to notify in the event set ofpredetermined 301 are satisfied. In other words, in the event set ofpredetermined 301 are satisfied, box 308 can be employed to select therecipient(s) for notification 114. Appreciably, one or more individualrecipients can be selected, as well as lists, such as “emergency list”,which can include multiple parties that can be preconfigured. Inaddition, interface 300 can provide a means for setting up, saving,updating, naming, or deleting of any such lists. Given that notification114 can take a variety of forms (e.g., SMS, email, . . . ), box 308 canalso include an interface (not shown) directed to the type ofnotification desired, which could affect the custodian device 116 thatwill be selected to receive notification 114 based upon the particularcircumstances and/or configuration.

Interface 300 can also provide an option for time-based criteria 310 ofconditions 301. For example, in contrast to the initial scenario inwhich mom receives a notification when Ashley arrives home after school,mom could alternatively (or in addition to, e.g., with a second set ofconditions 301) configure conditions 301 to generate the notification ifAshley does not arrive home by 4:00 pm on weekdays, given Ashley'sschool lets out at 3:30, or to receive a notification should Ashleyleave home before mom gets home from work, which is typically about 6:00pm. Thus, for instance time 310 can be selected (in connection withleaving home) to be between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. In addition, box 310(as well as other sections of interface 300) can also include a “Script”button in which scripts for more complex conditions 301, or conditionsotherwise not available by default or ready selection.

In accordance therewith, it should be readily apparent that multiplesets of conditions can be generated and appropriately named, e.g., uponselection of the save button 316. For example, in accordance with theabove-mentioned scenarios, “When safe at home” can be a first savedtemplate of conditions 301, while “If not home by 4” can be a second setof conditions 301, while “If leaving before home from work” can be yetanother set of conditions 301 that can be saved and selected to applyand/or be activated at any time according to preference, desires, orcircumstances.

Likewise, interface 300 can also include a means for selecting afrequency or duration of conditions 301, as exemplified by referencenumeral 312. For example, apply the configured conditions 301 on a dailybasis, on weekdays, weekends, just once or today only, or for the nexttwo weeks only, e.g., while mom and dad are on holiday, and so on. Inaddition, various other conditions 301 can be selected or created, whichcan include conditions 301 that relate to a status or state of targetlocation 110, which is illustrated in connection with reference numeral314.

For example, other femtocell services as well as third party devices orservices can be leveraged to identify or query various status- orstate-based parameters in connection with one's home, such as thermostatreadings, the state of locking mechanisms for various doors, and soforth. Thus, a given set of conditions 301 can be constructed tofacilitate transmission of notification 114 when Ashley arrives at homeand when she forgot to lock the door behind her. As another example, agiven set of conditions 301 can be constructed to facilitatetransmission of notification 114 when Ashley arrives at home and whenthe babysitter is not present (e.g., babysitter's mobile device has notregistered with the femtocell at mom's home). As a third providedexample, a given set of conditions 301 can be constructed to facilitatetransmission of notification 114 when Ashley departs from home duringweather warnings or bad weather forecasts in the area of target location110 (e.g., obtained from a third party service).

Furthermore, in one or more aspects, notification component 112 can befurther configured to export or import all or a portion of set ofconditions 301 to or from a record associated with a second subservientmobile device 106. For instance, if mom sets up a first set ofconditions 301 that apply to Ashley's mobile device (based uponselection of Ashley in box 302), that record can be imported to applythe same (or quickly updateable) conditions 301 to Billy's mobiledevice. Such can be provided by way of export 318 or import 320 featuresthat can be included in interface 300. In addition, notificationcomponent 112 can be further configured to export or import all or aportion of set of conditions 301 to or from a disparate account orwireless communications service provision. For example, suppose mom setsup a number of sets of conditions 301 relating to both Ashley and Billy,which she uses quite often. However, mom intends to take a vacation forthe next two weeks, during which time Ashley and Billy will be stayingwith aunt Sally.

Mom would like aunt Sally to receive all the same notification 114, yetrather than requiring aunt Sally to repeat all the same condition 301setup procedures, mom can export the saved template(s), and aunt Sallycan import them, such that all relevant conditions 301 and other aspectsthat previously applied to the old target location 110 (e.g., home), cannow apply to the new target location 110 (e.g., aunt Sally's home) andrather than mom being the recipient of any such notifications 114, auntSally can receive those notifications 114 instead.

Moreover, in one or more aspects, notification component 112 can befurther configured to facilitate download and/or access to all or aportion of stored presence information 104. For example, mom mightgenerally only be interested in receiving notifications 114 based uponinput conditions 301. However, the situation might arise in which momwould be interested in knowing additional information relating toAshley's presence, even when such does not trigger a notification. Insuch cases, presence history can be accessed by authorized parties(e.g., mom or dad) by way of presence history option 322. In someaspects, however, presence information 104 can be kept only for a shortamount of time, or can be deleted immediately after any such data isemployed in determining whether or not to provide notification 114, bothof which can be utilized to, e.g., to provide an additional layer ofprivacy. Further still, in addition to what has been described above,interface 300 can also allow for importing a wide range of default orpreconfigured sets of conditions 301, e.g., ready-made templatesprovided by the host wireless communications network. Additionally oralternatively, in some cases, e.g., when selected by an authorizedparty, various conditions 301 can be intelligently determined orinferred, which is further discussed in connection with FIG. 4.

Now turning to FIG. 4, system 400 that can perform or aid with variousdeterminations or inferences is illustrated. Generally, system 400 caninclude notification component 112 that can facilitate transmission ofnotification 114 to one or more custodian device 116 when presenceinformation 104 satisfies set of predetermined conditions 301, assubstantially described above. In addition to what has been described,components described herein can make intelligent determinations orinferences. For example, Bayesian probabilities or confidence measurescan be employed or inferences can be based upon machine learningtechniques related to historical analysis, feedback, and/or previousdeterminations or inferences.

For instance, notification component 112 can intelligently determine orinfer a suitable set of predetermined conditions 301. Such anintelligent determination or inference can be based upon, e.g., presenceinformation 104 that is exceptional or otherwise deviates from a norm.As one example, consider the scenario described above in Ashley's schoollets out at 3:30 pm on weekdays, and in which Ashley typically arriveshome a few minutes before 4:00 pm, as evidenced by a history of presenceinformation 104 describing registration to the home femtocell. Furthersuppose that mom wants to be notified in the event Ashley does notarrive home by, say, 4:15 pm, and has configured set of predeterminedconditions 301 appropriately. However, consider the case in which on oneparticular day, Ashley arrives home at 2:00 pm. Such would generallyindicate an unusual event, such as school closing, illness, truancy, orthe like. Thus, notification component 112 can intelligently infer thatmom would likely desire to learn of such presence information 104.Accordingly, notification component 112 can construct suitablepredetermined conditions 301 and facilitate transmission of theassociated notification 114 to mom immediately.

Appreciably, as with all notifications 114, a convenient link or otherobject can be embedded in notification 114, allowing all suchnotifications 114 of that type to be cancelled in the future. Forinstance, notification 114 can include a small hyperlink with the anchortext, e.g., “Do not send notifications of this type.” Upon selection,that particular set of predetermined conditions 301 can be deleted orotherwise removed from processing.

In addition, system 400 can also include intelligence component 402 thatcan provide for or aid in various inferences or determinations. Inparticular, in accordance with or in addition to what has been describedsupra with respect to intelligent determinations or inferences providedby various components described herein, e.g., all or portions ofnotification component 112. Additionally or alternatively, all orportions of intelligence component 402 can be included in one or morecomponents described herein. Thus, intelligence component 402 can residein whole or in part within system 100 or within components describedtherein. Moreover, intelligence component 402 will typically have accessto all or portions of data sets described herein, such as data store118.

In more detail, in order to provide for or aid in the numerousinferences described herein, intelligence component 402 can examine theentirety or a subset of the data available and can provide for reasoningabout or infer states of the system, environment, and/or user from a setof observations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can beemployed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate aprobability distribution over states, for example. The inference can beprobabilistic—that is, the computation of a probability distributionover states of interest based on a consideration of data and events.Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composinghigher-level events from a set of events and/or data.

Such inference can result in the construction of new events or actionsfrom a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or notthe events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether theevents and data come from one or several event and data sources. Variousclassification (explicitly and/or implicitly trained) schemes and/orsystems (e.g., support vector machines, neural networks, expert systems,Bayesian belief networks, fuzzy logic, data fusion engines . . . ) canbe employed in connection with performing automatic and/or inferredaction in connection with the disclosed subject matter.

A classifier can be a function that maps an input attribute vector,x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, xn), to a confidence that the input belongs to aclass, that is, f(x)=confidence (class). Such classification can employa probabilistic and/or statistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring intothe analysis utilities and costs) to prognose or infer an action that auser desires to be automatically performed. A support vector machine(SVM) is an example of a classifier that can be employed. The SVMoperates by finding a hyper-surface in the space of possible inputs,where the hyper-surface attempts to split the triggering criteria fromthe non-triggering events. Intuitively, this makes the classificationcorrect for testing data that is near, but not identical to trainingdata. Other directed and undirected model classification approachesinclude, e.g., naive Bayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neuralnetworks, fuzzy logic models, and probabilistic classification modelsproviding different patterns of independence can be employed.Classification as used herein also is inclusive of statisticalregression that is utilized to develop models of priority.

With reference now to FIGS. 5A-C, various design configurations aredepicted. In particular, FIG. 5A illustrates system 500 in which all ora portion of the components described herein can be included in a corenetwork 502 of the wireless communications network. For example, apresence server included in core network 502 can operate as presencecomponent 102, while a suitable notification application executing onthe presence server can function as notification component 112.

Referring to FIG. 5B, system 510 is configured such that all or aportion of the components described herein can be included in afemtocell (e.g., femtocell 202) or other network entity 108 associatedwith target location 110. Likewise, FIG. 5C relates to system 520 inwhich all or a portion of the components described herein can beincluded in subservient mobile device 106.

FIGS. 6-8 illustrate various methodologies in accordance with thedisclosed subject matter. While, for purposes of simplicity ofexplanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series ofacts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the disclosed subjectmatter is not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown anddescribed herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understandand appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented asa series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram.Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement amethodology in accordance with the disclosed subject matter.Additionally, it should be further appreciated that the methodologiesdisclosed hereinafter and throughout this specification are capable ofbeing stored on an article of manufacture to facilitate transporting andtransferring such methodologies to computers.

Turning now to FIG. 6, exemplary method 600 for creating notificationsin a wireless communications network based upon device presenceinformation is depicted. Generally, at reference numeral 602, presenceinformation based upon registration to a network entity servicing atarget location by a subservient mobile device can be electronicallyreceived. For example, when the subservient mobile device registers withthe network entity (e.g., in order to connect to the network via thenetwork entity), then such registration can constitute presenceinformation indicative of the fact that the device (and therefore a userthereof) is at or near the target location.

Hence, at reference numeral 604, the presence information can be storedto a computer-readable storage medium such as to a disc or to anysuitable type of memory. Appreciably, the storage can be for a shortduration (e.g., when custodians do not wish the data to be maintained)or for longer-term storage. Regardless, at reference numeral 606, apresence notification can be generated and propagated to at least onecustodian device (e.g., an authorized device configured and/ordesignated to receive the presence notifications) if the presenceinformation satisfies a set of predetermined criteria.

Turning now to FIG. 7, exemplary method 700 for providing additionalfeatures or aspects in connection with creating notifications in awireless communications network based upon device presence informationis illustrated. At reference numeral 702, presence information receivedat reference numeral 602 of FIG. 6 can be received as a result of thesubservient mobile device registering to a femtocell (e.g., the networkentity in this case) at the target location.

In contrast, at reference numeral 704, the presence information ca bereceived as a result of the subservient mobile device registering to abase station servicing the target location (or with another networkentity), or as a result of the subservient mobile device de-registeringfrom the femtocell at the target location. Appreciably, in this case,the presence information relates to a lack of presence such as when thesubservient device departs from the target location as opposed toarriving at the target location. In either case, the subservient is nolonger registered with the femtocell at the target location, so it canbe presumed presence no longer exists at the target location.

At reference numeral 706, the presence notification generated inconnection with reference numeral 606 can be transmitted to thecustodian device in real time upon satisfying the set of predeterminedcriteria. Appreciably, at reference numeral 708, short message service(SMS) can be employed for transmitting the presence notification.

With reference now FIG. 8, exemplary method 800 for providing additionalfeatures or aspects in connection configuring the set of predeterminedcriteria is depicted. In general, at reference numeral 802, an interfacefor configuring the set of predetermined criteria can be provided. Forexample, the interface can include options for setting various desiredcriteria as well as other related parameters (e.g., to whom to sendnotifications).

At reference numeral 804, artificial intelligence techniques can beemployed for inferring the set of predetermined criteria. For example,based upon patterns or unusual events or the like. Regardless of themanner in which the set of predetermined criteria is created, atreference numeral 806, all or a portion of the set of predeterminedcriteria can be exported to a record associated with a secondsubservient device, or to a disparate account or provision associatedwith the wireless communications network. Accordingly, setting upcriteria relating to a first subservient mobile device, satisfaction ofwhich will result in transmission of the presence notification can bereadily exported for use with other subservient devices associated withthe same account or by other account subscribers.

Additionally or alternatively, at reference numeral 808, all or aportion of the set of predetermined criteria can be imported from arecord associated with a second subservient device, or from a disparateaccount or provision associated with the wireless communicationsnetwork. In addition, at reference numeral 810, access to all or aportion of stored presence information can be enabled. For example,presence information stored in connection with reference numeral 606 ofFIG. 6 can be accessed by authorized parties. Such information caninclude data relating to all presence information including that whichdid not satisfy the necessary conditions to be included in the presencenotification. In other words, authorized parties might desire to beinformed via the presence notification upon certain conditions beingsatisfied (e.g., the set of predetermined criteria), yet might alsodesire the ability to browse additional presence information associatedwith the subservient mobile device(s) as well.

To provide further context for various aspects of the subjectspecification, FIG. 9 illustrates an example wireless communicationenvironment 900, with associated components that can enable operation ofa femtocell enterprise network in accordance with aspects describedherein. Wireless communication environment 900 includes two wirelessnetwork platforms: (i) A macro network platform 910 that serves, orfacilitates communication) with user equipment 975 via a macro radioaccess network (RAN) 970. It should be appreciated that in cellularwireless technologies (e.g., 4G, 3GPP UMTS, HSPA, 3GPP LTE, 3GPP UMB),macro network platform 910 is embodied in a Core Network. (ii) A femtonetwork platform 980, which can provide communication with UE 975through a femto RAN 990, linked to the femto network platform 980through a routing platform 92 via backhaul pipe(s) 985, wherein backhaulpipe(s) are substantially the same a backhaul link 3853 below. It shouldbe appreciated that femto network platform 980 typically offloads UE 975from macro network, once UE 975 attaches (e.g., through macro-to-femtohandover, or via a scan of channel resources in idle mode) to femto RAN.

It is noted that RAN includes base station(s), or access point(s), andits associated electronic circuitry and deployment site(s), in additionto a wireless radio link operated in accordance with the basestation(s). Accordingly, macro RAN 970 can comprise various coveragecells like cell 1205, while femto RAN 990 can comprise multiple femtoaccess points. As mentioned above, it is to be appreciated thatdeployment density in femto RAN 990 is substantially higher than inmacro RAN 970.

Generally, both macro and femto network platforms 910 and 980 includecomponents, e.g., nodes, gateways, interfaces, servers, or platforms,that facilitate both packet-switched (PS) (e.g., internet protocol (IP),frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)) and circuit-switched (CS)traffic (e.g., voice and data) and control generation for networkedwireless communication. In an aspect of the subject innovation, macronetwork platform 910 includes CS gateway node(s) 912 which can interfaceCS traffic received from legacy networks like telephony network(s) 940(e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN), or public land mobilenetwork (PLMN)) or a SS7 network 960. Circuit switched gateway 912 canauthorize and authenticate traffic (e.g., voice) arising from suchnetworks. Additionally, CS gateway 912 can access mobility, or roaming,data generated through SS7 network 960; for instance, mobility datastored in a VLR, which can reside in memory 930. Moreover, CS gatewaynode(s) 912 interfaces CS-based traffic and signaling and gatewaynode(s) 918. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, gateway node(s) 918can be embodied in gateway GPRS support node(s) (GGSN).

In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic andsignaling, gateway node(s) 918 can authorize and authenticate PS-baseddata sessions with served (e.g., through macro RAN) wireless devices.Data sessions can include traffic exchange with networks external to themacro network platform 910, like wide area network(s) (WANs) 950; itshould be appreciated that local area network(s) (LANs) can also beinterfaced with macro network platform 910 through gateway node(s) 918.Gateway node(s) 918 generates packet data contexts when a data sessionis established. To that end, in an aspect, gateway node(s) 918 caninclude a tunnel interface (e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in3GPP UMTS network(s); not shown) which can facilitate packetizedcommunication with disparate wireless network(s), such as Wi-Finetworks. It should be further appreciated that the packetizedcommunication can include multiple flows that can be generated throughserver(s) 914. It is to be noted that in 3GPP UMTS network(s), gatewaynode(s) 918 (e.g., GGSN) and tunnel interface (e.g., TTG) comprise apacket data gateway (PDG).

Macro network platform 910 also includes serving node(s) 916 that conveythe various packetized flows of information or data streams, receivedthrough gateway node(s) 918. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network,serving node(s) can be embodied in serving GPRS support node(s) (SGSN).

As indicated above, server(s) 914 in macro network platform 910 canexecute numerous applications (e.g., location services, online gaming,wireless banking, wireless device management . . . ) that generatemultiple disparate packetized data streams or flows, and manage (e.g.,schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Such application(s), forexample can include add-on features to standard services provided bymacro network platform 910. Data streams can be conveyed to gatewaynode(s) 918 for authorization/authentication and initiation of a datasession, and to serving node(s) 916 for communication thereafter.Server(s) 914 can also effect security (e.g., implement one or morefirewalls) of macro network platform 910 to ensure network's operationand data integrity in addition to authorization and authenticationprocedures that CS gateway node(s) 912 and gateway node(s) 918 canenact. Moreover, server(s) 914 can provision services from externalnetwork(s), e.g., WAN 950, or Global Positioning System (GPS) network(s)(not shown). It is to be noted that server(s) 914 can include one ormore processor configured to confer at least in part the functionalityof macro network platform 910. To that end, the one or more processorcan execute code instructions stored in memory 930, for example.

In example wireless environment 900, memory 930 stores informationrelated to operation of macro network platform 910. Information caninclude business data associated with subscribers; market plans andstrategies, e.g., promotional campaigns, business partnerships;operational data for mobile devices served through macro networkplatform; service and privacy policies; end-user service logs for lawenforcement; and so forth. Memory 930 can also store information from atleast one of telephony network(s) 940, WAN(s) 950, or SS7 network 960,enterprise NW(s) 965, or service NW(s) 967.

Femto gateway node(s) 984 have substantially the same functionality asPS gateway node(s) 918. Additionally, femto gateway node(s) 984 can alsoinclude substantially all functionality of serving node(s) 916. In anaspect, femto gateway node(s) 984 facilitates handover resolution, e.g.,assessment and execution. Further, control node(s) 920 can receivehandover requests and relay them to a handover component (not shown) viagateway node(s) 984. According to an aspect, control node(s) 920 cansupport RNC capabilities.

Server(s) 982 have substantially the same functionality as described inconnection with server(s) 914. In an aspect, server(s) 982 can executemultiple application(s) that provide service (e.g., voice and data) towireless devices served through femto RAN 990. Server(s) 982 can alsoprovide security features to femto network platform. In addition,server(s) 982 can manage (e.g., schedule, queue, format . . . )substantially all packetized flows (e.g., IP-based, frame relay-based,ATM-based) it generates in addition to data received from macro networkplatform 910. It is to be noted that server(s) 982 can include one ormore processor configured to confer at least in part the functionalityof macro network platform 910. To that end, the one or more processorcan execute code instructions stored in memory 986, for example.

Memory 986 can include information relevant to operation of the variouscomponents of femto network platform 980. For example operationalinformation that can be stored in memory 986 can comprise, but is notlimited to, subscriber information; contracted services; maintenance andservice records; femto cell configuration (e.g., devices served throughfemto RAN 990; access control lists, or white lists); service policiesand specifications; privacy policies; add-on features; and so forth.

It is noted that femto network platform 980 and macro network platform910 can be functionally connected through one or more reference link(s)or reference interface(s). In addition, femto network platform 980 canbe functionally coupled directly (not illustrated) to one or more ofexternal network(s) 940, 950, 960, 965 or 967. Reference link(s) orinterface(s) can functionally link at least one of gateway node(s) 984or server(s) 986 to the one or more external networks 940, 950, 960, 965or 967.

FIG. 10 illustrates a wireless environment that includes macro cells andfemtocells for wireless coverage in accordance with aspects describedherein. In wireless environment 1050, two areas 1005 represent “macro”cell coverage; each macro cell is served by a base station 1010. It canbe appreciated that macro cell coverage area 1005 and base station 1010can include functionality, as more fully described herein, for example,with regard to system 1000. Macro coverage is generally intended toserve mobile wireless devices, like UE 1020 _(A), 1020 _(B), in outdoorslocations. An over-the-air wireless link 105 provides such coverage, thewireless link 1215 comprises a downlink (DL) and an uplink (UL), andutilizes a predetermined band, licensed or unlicensed, of the radiofrequency (RF) spectrum. As an example, UE 1020 _(A), 1020 _(E) can be a3GPP Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) mobile phone. Itis noted that a set of base stations, its associated electronics,circuitry or components, base stations control component(s), andwireless links operated in accordance to respective base stations in theset of base stations form a radio access network (RAN). In addition,base station 1010 communicates via backhaul link(s) 1051 with a macronetwork platform 1060, which in cellular wireless technologies (e.g.,3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Universal MobileTelecommunication System (UMTS), Global System for Mobile Communication(GSM)) represents a core network.

In an aspect, macro network platform 1060 controls a set of basestations 1010 that serve either respective cells or a number of sectorswithin such cells. Base station 1010 comprises radio equipment 1014 foroperation in one or more radio technologies, and a set of antennas 1012(e.g., smart antennas, microwave antennas, satellite dish(es) . . . )that can serve one or more sectors within a macro cell 1005. It is notedthat a set of radio network control node(s), which can be a part ofmacro network platform; a set of base stations (e.g., Node B 1010) thatserve a set of macro cells 1005; electronics, circuitry or componentsassociated with the base stations in the set of base stations; a set ofrespective OTA wireless links (e.g., links 1015 or 1016) operated inaccordance to a radio technology through the base stations; and backhaullink(s) 1055 and 1051 form a macro radio access network (RAN). Macronetwork platform 1060 also communicates with other base stations (notshown) that serve other cells (not shown). Backhaul link(s) 1051 or 1053can include a wired backbone link (e.g., optical fiber backbone,twisted-pair line, T1/E1 phone line, a digital subscriber line (DSL)either synchronous or asynchronous, an asymmetric ADSL, or a coaxialcable . . . ) or a wireless (e.g., line-of-sight (LOS) or non-LOS)backbone link. Backhaul pipe(s) 1055 link disparate base stations 1010.According to an aspect, backhaul link 1053 can connect multiple femtoaccess points 1030 and/or controller components (CC) 1001 to the femtonetwork platform 1002. In one example, multiple femto APs can beconnected to a routing platform (RP) 1087, which in turn can be connectto a controller component (CC) 1001. Typically, the information from UEs1020 _(A) can be routed by the RP 102, for example, internally, toanother UE 1020 _(A) connected to a disparate femto AP connected to theRP 1087, or, externally, to the femto network platform 1002 via the CC1001, as discussed in detail supra.

In wireless environment 1050, within one or more macro cell(s) 1005, aset of femtocells 1045 served by respective femto access points (APs)1030 can be deployed. It can be appreciated that, aspects of the subjectinnovation are geared to femtocell deployments with substantive femto APdensity, e.g., 10⁴-10⁷ femto APs 1030 per base station 1010. Accordingto an aspect, a set of femto access points 1030 ₁-1030 _(N), with N anatural number, can be functionally connected to a routing platform1087, which can be functionally coupled to a controller component 1001.The controller component 1001 can be operationally linked to the femtonetwork platform 330 by employing backhaul link(s) 1053. Accordingly, UE1020 _(A) connected to femto APs 1030 ₁-1030 _(N) can communicateinternally within the femto enterprise via the routing platform (RP)1087 and/or can also communicate with the femto network platform 1002via the RP 1087, controller component 1001 and the backhaul link(s)1053. It can be appreciated that although only one femto enterprise isdepicted in FIG. 10, multiple femto enterprise networks can be deployedwithin a macro cell 1005.

It is noted that while various aspects, features, or advantagesdescribed herein have been illustrated through femto access point(s) andassociated femto coverage, such aspects and features also can beexploited for home access point(s) (HAPs) that provide wireless coveragethrough substantially any, or any, disparate telecommunicationtechnologies, such as for example Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) or picocelltelecommunication. Additionally, aspects, features, or advantages of thesubject innovation can be exploited in substantially any wirelesstelecommunication, or radio, technology; for example, Wi-Fi, WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Enhanced General PacketRadio Service (Enhanced GPRS), 3GPP LTE, 3GPP2 UMB, 3GPP UMTS, HSPA,HSDPA, HSUPA, or LTE Advanced. Moreover, substantially all aspects ofthe subject innovation can include legacy telecommunicationtechnologies.

With respect to FIG. 11, in example embodiment 1100, femtocell AP 1110can receive and transmit signal(s) (e.g., traffic and control signals)from and to wireless devices, access terminals, wireless ports androuters, etc., through a set of antennas 1169 ₁-1169 _(N). It should beappreciated that while antennas 1169 ₁-1169 _(N) are a part ofcommunication platform 1125, which comprises electronic components andassociated circuitry that provides for processing and manipulating ofreceived signal(s) (e.g., a packet flow) and signal(s) (e.g., abroadcast control channel) to be transmitted. In an aspect,communication platform 1125 includes a transmitter/receiver (e.g., atransceiver) 1166 that can convert signal(s) from analog format todigital format upon reception, and from digital format to analog formatupon transmission. In addition, receiver/transmitter 1166 can divide asingle data stream into multiple, parallel data streams, or perform thereciprocal operation. Coupled to transceiver 1166 is amultiplexer/demultiplexer 1167 that facilitates manipulation of signalin time and frequency space. Electronic component 1167 can multiplexinformation (data/traffic and control/signaling) according to variousmultiplexing schemes such as time division multiplexing (TDM), frequencydivision multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), space division multiplexing(SDM). In addition, mux/demux component 1167 can scramble and spreadinformation (e.g., codes) according to substantially any code known inthe art; e.g., Hadamard-Walsh codes, Baker codes, Kasami codes,polyphase codes, and so on. A modulator/demodulator 1168 is also a partof operational group 1125, and can modulate information according tomultiple modulation techniques, such as frequency modulation, amplitudemodulation (e.g., M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), with M apositive integer), phase-shift keying (PSK), and the like.

FAP 1110 also includes a processor 1145 configured to conferfunctionality, at least partially, to substantially any electroniccomponent in the femto access point 1110, in accordance with aspects ofthe subject innovation. In particular, processor 1145 can facilitate FAP1110 to implement configuration instructions received throughcommunication platform 1125, which can include storing data in memory1155. In addition, processor 1145 facilitates FAP 1110 to process data(e.g., symbols, bits, or chips) for multiplexing/demultiplexing, such aseffecting direct and inverse fast Fourier transforms, selection ofmodulation rates, selection of data packet formats, inter-packet times,etc. Moreover, processor 1145 can manipulate antennas 1169 ₁-1169 _(N)to facilitate beamforming or selective radiation pattern formation,which can benefit specific locations (e.g., basement, home office . . .) covered by FAP; and exploit substantially any other advantagesassociated with smart-antenna technology. Memory 1155 can store datastructures, code instructions, system or device information like deviceidentification codes (e.g., IMEI, MSISDN, serial number . . . ) andspecification such as multimode capabilities; code sequences forscrambling; spreading and pilot transmission, floor plan configuration,access point deployment and frequency plans; and so on. Moreover, memory1155 can store configuration information such as schedules and policies;FAP address(es) or geographical indicator(s); access lists (e.g., whitelists); license(s) for utilization of add-features for FAP 1110, and soforth.

In embodiment 1100, processor 1145 is coupled to the memory 1155 inorder to store and retrieve information necessary to operate and/orconfer functionality to communication platform 1125, broadband networkinterface 1135 (e.g., a broadband modem), and other operationalcomponents (e.g., multimode chipset(s), power supply sources . . . ; notshown) that support femto access point 1110. In addition, it is to benoted that the various aspects disclosed in the subject specificationcan also be implemented through (i) program modules stored in acomputer-readable storage medium or memory (e.g., memory 1086 or memory1155) and executed by a processor (e.g., processor 1145), or (ii) othercombination(s) of hardware and software, or hardware and firmware.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is illustrated a block diagram of anexemplary computer system operable to execute the disclosedarchitecture. In order to provide additional context for various aspectsof the disclosed subject matter, FIG. 12 and the following discussionare intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitablecomputing environment 1200 in which the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter can be implemented. Additionally, while the disclosedsubject matter described above may be suitable for application in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions that may run on oneor more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that thedisclosed subject matter also can be implemented in combination withother program modules and/or as a combination of hardware and software.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

The illustrated aspects of the disclosed subject matter may also bepracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

A computer typically includes a variety of computer-readable media.Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessedby the computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media,removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer-readable media can comprise computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media can include eithervolatile or nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implementedin any method or technology for storage of information such ascomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM,ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other medium which can be used to store the desired informationand which can be accessed by the computer.

Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated datasignal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includesany information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example,and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as awired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such asacoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the anyof the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

With reference again to FIG. 12, the exemplary environment 1200 forimplementing various aspects of the disclosed subject matter includes acomputer 1202, the computer 1202 including a processing unit 1204, asystem memory 1206 and a system bus 1208. The system bus 1208 couples tosystem components including, but not limited to, the system memory 1206to the processing unit 1204. The processing unit 1204 can be any ofvarious commercially available processors. Dual microprocessors andother multi-processor architectures may also be employed as theprocessing unit 1204.

The system bus 1208 can be any of several types of bus structure thatmay further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 1206includes read-only memory (ROM) 1210 and random access memory (RAM)1212. A basic input/output system (BIOS) is stored in a non-volatilememory 1210 such as ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basicroutines that help to transfer information between elements within thecomputer 1202, such as during start-up. The RAM 1212 can also include ahigh-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 1202 further includes an internal hard disk drive (HDD)1214 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard disk drive 1214 may also beconfigured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), amagnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1216, (e.g., to read from or write to aremovable diskette 1218) and an optical disk drive 1220, (e.g., readinga CD-ROM disk 1222 or, to read from or write to other high capacityoptical media such as the DVD). The hard disk drive 1214, magnetic diskdrive 1216 and optical disk drive 1220 can be connected to the systembus 1208 by a hard disk drive interface 1224, a magnetic disk driveinterface 1226 and an optical drive interface 1228, respectively. Theinterface 1224 for external drive implementations includes at least oneor both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE1394 interfacetechnologies. Other external drive connection technologies are withincontemplation of the subject matter disclosed herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 1202, the drives and mediaaccommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digital format.Although the description of computer-readable media above refers to aHDD, a removable magnetic diskette, and a removable optical media suchas a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat other types of media which are readable by a computer, such as zipdrives, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, cartridges, and thelike, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment, andfurther, that any such media may contain computer-executableinstructions for performing the methods of the disclosed subject matter.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 1212,including an operating system 1230, one or more application programs1232, other program modules 1234 and program data 1236. All or portionsof the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 1212. It is appreciated that the disclosed subjectmatter can be implemented with various commercially available operatingsystems or combinations of operating systems.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 1202 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 1238 and apointing device, such as a mouse 1240. Other input devices (not shown)may include a microphone, an IR remote control, a joystick, a game pad,a stylus pen, touch screen, or the like. These and other input devicesare often connected to the processing unit 1204 through an input deviceinterface 1242 that is coupled to the system bus 1208, but can beconnected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE1394serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, etc.

A monitor 1244 or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus 1208 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1246. Inaddition to the monitor 1244, a computer typically includes otherperipheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 1202 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 1248. The remotecomputer(s) 1248 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, a mobile device, portable computer,microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or othercommon network node, and typically includes many or all of the elementsdescribed relative to the computer 1202, although, for purposes ofbrevity, only a memory/storage device 1250 is illustrated. The logicalconnections depicted include wired/wireless connectivity to a local areanetwork (LAN) 1252 and/or larger networks, e.g., a wide area network(WAN) 1254. Such LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace inoffices and companies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks,such as intranets, all of which may connect to a global communicationsnetwork, e.g., the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1202 isconnected to the local network 1252 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 1256. The adapter 1256 mayfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 1252, which mayalso include a wireless access point disposed thereon for communicatingwith the wireless adapter 1256.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1202 can includea modem 1258, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN1254, or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN1254, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1258, which can beinternal or external and a wired or wireless device, is connected to thesystem bus 1208 via the serial port interface 1242. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1202, orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1250. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexemplary and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer 1202 is operable to communicate with any wireless devicesor entities operatively disposed in wireless communication, e.g., aprinter, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portable dataassistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment or locationassociated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand,restroom), and telephone. This includes at least Wi-Fi and Bluetooth™wireless technologies. Thus, the communication can be a predefinedstructure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoccommunication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi, or Wireless Fidelity, allows connection to the Internet from acouch at home, a bed in a hotel room, or a conference room at work,without wires. Wi-Fi is a wireless technology similar to that used in acell phone that enables such devices, e.g., computers, to send andreceive data indoors and out; anywhere within the range of a basestation. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE802.11 (a, b,g, n, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. AWi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to theInternet, and to wired networks (which use IEEE802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Finetworks operate in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, at an 12Mbps (802.11b) or 54 Mbps (802.11a) data rate, for example, or withproducts that contain both bands (dual band), so the networks canprovide real-world performance similar to the basic “10BaseT” wiredEthernet networks used in many offices.

What has been described above includes examples of the variousembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing the embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art mayrecognize that many further combinations and permutations are possible.Accordingly, the detailed description is intended to embrace all suchalterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the spiritand scope of the appended claims.

As it employed in the subject specification, the term “processor” canrefer to substantially any computing processing unit or devicecomprising, but not limited to comprising, single-core processors;single-processors with software multithread execution capability;multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithreadexecution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithreadtechnology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributedshared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integratedcircuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), aprogrammable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic device(CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. Processors can exploit nano-scale architectures suchas, but not limited to, molecular and quantum-dot based transistors,switches and gates, in order to optimize space usage or enhanceperformance of user equipment. A processor also can be implemented as acombination of computing processing units.

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “data store,” “datastorage,” “database,” “repository,” and substantially any otherinformation storage component relevant to operation and functionality ofa component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciatedthat the memory components described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory. In addition, memory components or memory elementscan be removable or stationary. Moreover, memory can be internal orexternal to a device or component, or removable or stationary. Memorycan include various types of media that are readable by a computer, suchas hard-disc drives, zip drives, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cardsor other types of memory cards, cartridges, or the like.

By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flashmemory. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM), whichacts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), anddirect Rambus RAM (DRRAM). Additionally, the disclosed memory componentsof systems or methods herein are intended to comprise, without beinglimited to comprising, these and any other suitable types of memory.

In particular and in regard to the various functions performed by theabove described components, devices, circuits, systems and the like, theterms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., a functional equivalent), even though not structurallyequivalent to the disclosed structure, which performs the function inthe herein illustrated exemplary aspects of the embodiments. In thisregard, it will also be recognized that the embodiments includes asystem as well as a computer-readable medium having computer-executableinstructions for performing the acts and/or events of the variousmethods.

In addition, while a particular feature may have been disclosed withrespect to only one of several implementations, such feature may becombined with one or more other features of the other implementations asmay be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes” and “including” andvariants thereof are used in either the detailed description or theclaims, these terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar tothe term “comprising.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A device, comprising: a processor; and a memorythat stores executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: receivingde-registration data indicative of a first mobile device de-registeringfrom a first access point device that provides communication servicecoverage at a first defined area; determining, based on thede-registration data, that the first mobile device has departed from thefirst defined area; updating a presence data structure comprisingpresence data indicative of a presence of the first mobile device toindicate that the first mobile device has departed from the firstdefined area; and facilitating transmission of the presence data to asecond mobile device that is not the first mobile device.
 2. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the first access point device is one of: a femtocelldevice, a home Node B device, an evolved Node B device, a wirelessfidelity access point device, or a Bluetooth-based device.
 3. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receivingregistration data indicative of the first mobile device registering to asecond access point device that is not the first access point device andthat provides communication service coverage at a second defined areathat is not the first defined area, and wherein the presence datacomprises an indication that the first mobile device has departed fromthe first defined area and has arrived at the second defined area. 4.The device of claim 3, wherein the facilitating the transmission of thepresence data is in response to a determination that the second definedarea is not associated with location data representing defined location.5. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprisereceiving time data indicative of a time associated with thede-registering of the first mobile device from the first access pointdevice.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the presence data comprises anindication that the first mobile device has departed from the firstdefined area at the time.
 7. The device of claim 5, wherein thefacilitating the transmission of the presence data is in response to adetermination that the time data does not satisfy a defined temporalschedule.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise receiving state data indicative of a state associated with thefirst defined area.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein the presence datacomprises an indication that the first mobile device has departed fromthe first defined area and the first defined area is in the stateindicated by the state data.
 10. The device of claim 8, wherein thefacilitating the transmission of the presence data is in response to adetermination that the state data does not satisfy a defined state. 11.A device, comprising: a processor; and a memory that stores executableinstructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitateperformance of operations, comprising: receiving schedule dataindicative of a defined time that a first mobile device is scheduled toarrive at a first defined area; monitoring registration data indicativeof mobile devices that register for communication service with a firstaccess point device that services the first defined area; determiningthe first mobile device has not arrived at the first defined area by thedefined time based on the schedule data and the registration data; andin response to the determining, instructing transmission of presencedata to a second mobile device that differs from the first mobiledevice, wherein the presence data indicates the first mobile device hasnot arrived at the first defined area by the defined time.
 12. Thedevice of claim 11, wherein the determining the first mobile device hasnot arrived at the first defined area by the defined time comprisesdetermining the first mobile device has not registered for service withthe first access point device by the defined time.
 13. The device ofclaim 11, wherein the operations further comprise receiving otherregistration data indicative of the first mobile device registering witha second access point device that differs from the first access pointdevice and provides communication service at a second defined area thatdiffers from the first defined area.
 14. The device of claim 13, whereinthe presence data comprises an indication that the first mobile devicehas not arrived at the first defined area by the defined time and anindication of the second defined area.
 15. The device of claim 13,wherein the instructing the transmission of the presence data is inresponse to a determination that the second defined area is notassociated with location data representing a specified location.
 16. Amethod, comprising: receiving, by a device comprising a processor,registration data that indicates a first mobile device has registeredwith a first access point device that provides communication service ata first defined area; determining, by the device, that the first mobiledevice is not at a second defined area that differs from the firstdefined area based on the registration data; and transmitting, by thedevice, presence data to a second mobile device that differs from thefirst mobile device, wherein the presence data indicates the firstmobile device is not at the second defined area.
 17. The method of claim16, further comprising comparing, by the device, a time to schedule dataindicative of a defined time the first mobile device is scheduled toarrive at the second defined area.
 18. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising comparing, by the device, state data indicative of a state ofthe second defined area to a defined state of the second defined area.19. The method of claim 18, further comprising transmitting, by thedevice, the state data to the first mobile device or the second mobiledevice.
 20. The method of claim 17, further comprising: transmitting, bythe device, the schedule data to the first mobile device or the secondmobile device.